Sunday, 26 April 2015

So, it's been way too long since I last blogged. 2015 has been manic so far (mostly in a good way) and I've had limited down-time. It's meant not enough time in the kitchen, which I hate, and not enough time to focus on food in general! But this long-awaited blog for Suma Wholefoods signals my return. I hope you enjoy it!I'm so glad to finally see some sunshine, it really is good for the soul. And these two dips are perfect for this time of year. Their versatility means you can make them in bulk and add them to lunches and dinners throughout the week. The first is a Pickled Chilli & Parsley Hummus and the second is a Butter Bean & Semi-dried Tomato Dip. They're great for sandwiches, salads, dipping and the latter is a splendid addition to pasta.

Both recipes follow a very similar process with a few cross-over ingredients and you'll need to grab your blender for this one. Suma have an incredible selection of dried goods including these fab Chickpeas and Butter Beans, they're brilliant to buy and cook in bulk for ease of use during the week. I say this because when I get home from a long day at work there are times when I really don't have the energy to fully scratch cook, I'm sure you can relate. A fridge full of ready to eat and quick-cook meals really is a necessity. The Cooks & Co jarred products are brilliant too and I love adding the chillies and tomatoes to a massive variety of meals. Check out the Suma Bloggers Network for all the other recipes using their great range of ingredients!

Let's start with the Hummus! I used approximately ¼ of the 500g bag of chickpeas and soaked overnight. They were cooked for around 1 hour until nice and tender. You then need to slip the skins off. This might sound like a fiddly task but it's actually quite quick and easy when they've been cooked long enough. Once you've peeled the chickpeas add them to the blender with the Basil leaves, oils, tahini, chillies, lemon juice, crushed garlic and seasoning. Then blitz until it's smooth as you like. I prefer mine a little chunky but feel free to keep blitzing if you like it smoother.

Now for the Butter Bean Dip. I soaked around ¼ of the 500g bag of Butter Beans from Suma overnight, I then cooked them for approximately 1 hour 30 mins to make sure they were super-tender. Of this I used 200g cooked Butter Beans for this recipe. I put the rest into a container and used for lunch salads. Legumes are a great source of protein to keep you fuelled up.Add the cooked and cooled Butter Beans to your blender with the Basil leaves, tomatoes, oils, lemon juice, seaweed and seasoning. Then use a garlic press to crush the garlic and add. Once you've added all the ingredients blitz until smooth. Simple.

The flavours of each are divine. So fresh and zingy but with a real depth. The seaweed really helps to add that umami goodness. If you're a chilli lover like me you can add a little more cayenne to the hummus. You can use extra olive oil if you haven't got flaxseed oil but it does add a great nutritional kick, especially if you follow a fully vegan diet. Both dips will keep in sealed containers in the fridge for a few days.